Radio-Cité (1977–1990) CITE-FM
signed on the air on May 7,
1977 as a
sister station to 730
CKAC, owned by
Telemedia. While it was still being approved and built, the station was called
CKAC-FM, though it would instead go on the air as
CITE-FM. The previous year, a co-owned FM station in
Sherbrooke at 102.7 began using the call letters CITE-FM. With the sign-on of 107.3 in Montreal, the Sherbrooke station became
CITE-FM-1. That "-1"
suffix usually indicates a full-time rebroadcaster of the non-numbered station, though CITE-FM-1 continued to have its own local personalities and advertising with a similar
playlist. CITE-FM-1 is also easily heard in the eastern portion of the Montreal market, and Telemedia likely used the similar call letters for overall ratings purposes involving both stations. Currently, CITE-FM-1
simulcasts some programming from Montreal but retains its own local advertising and some local personalities. Telemedia originally planned CITE-FM to be on 93.5 MHz, but the
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission instead arranged for
CBM-FM to shift from 100.7 MHz to 93.5 MHz to accommodate
CBF-FM. Telemedia then took the 107.3 allocation instead. CITE-FM aired a
beautiful music format as
Radio-Cité. It played instrumental
cover versions of popular songs, along with some French and English
middle of the road (MOR) vocals. Over time, to attract younger listeners, the number of vocals increased while the instrumental music was scaled back.
RockDétente (1990–2011) In 1990, CITE-FM completed its move from instrumental to vocal music, switching to a
soft adult contemporary format. "Radio-Cité" was renamed
Cité Rock-Détente. Telemedia's radio stations in
Quebec and the
Maritimes were purchased in 2002 by
Astral Media. CITE-FM became the
sister station of Astral's
CKMF-FM. Because of federal competition laws, Astral Media was not permitted to keep 730 CKAC. Following the transaction, CITE-FM left the CKAC building that was on the corner of
Sainte-Catherine Street and
Peel Street, relocating to CKMF's building at the corner of
René Lévesque Boulevard and
Papineau Avenue. In 2004, Astral revamped the Rock Détente network with a new logo. This resulted in Cité Rock-Détente being renamed as simply "107,3 RockDétente." The station no longer uses its call letters on the air, except when required by CRTC regulations.
Rouge FM (2011–present) On August 18, 2011, at 4:00 p.m.
EDT, the station ended its 21-year run with the "RockDétente" branding. All "RockDétente" stations, including CITE, were rebranded as
Rouge FM. The last song under "RockDétente" was "
Pour que tu m'aimes encore" by
Celine Dion, followed by a tribute to RockDétente's 23-year history. The first song under "Rouge" was "
I Gotta Feeling" by
Black Eyed Peas. ==Transmitters==